Linguica Chicken with Tomatoes

Perfect meal when you return to the farm house kitchen , after shoveling snow!

Linguica Chicken with Tomatoes

Serves 4

4 boneless chicken breasts, butterflied

Fresh ground pepper to taste

Coarse kosher, salt to taste

1 cup all-purpose flour, as needed

1/3  cup olive oil

3 tablespoons finely chopped scallions

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro, divided

4 ounces, linguica or chourico sausage, sliced crosswise into 1/8 inch rounds

1 1/2 cups peeled, seeded, fresh tomato, cut into roughly 1-2-inch pieces

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/4  cup white wine

1. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Lightly coat the chicken in the flour, shaking off excess.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it is hot but not smoking. Brown the chicken for about 3 minutes each side, until medium golden, turning only once. Transfer to a plate.
3. To the drippings, add the  scallions, one half of the cilantro, the sausage slices.  Cook for 1 minute over medium heat until the sausage slices take on some color.  Add the tomatoes, garlic and paprika.  Bring to a simmer, and cook for just 1 minute.  Pour in the white wine, stir and return to a simmer.
4. Return the chicken to the pan, nestling the pieces into the sauce.  Cover tightly, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer 2 more minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Transfer everything to a serving dish and garnish with remaining cilantro.

Short Days and Morning Chores

Vegetable Cheddar Breakfast Muffins

Summary

Make a weeks worth of healthy breakfasts all at once. Once made and cooled, these can be individually wrapped in foil and frozen for a quick weekday breakfast or as a lunchbox treat.

Prep time: 20 Min
Cook time: 25 Min
Total time: 45 Min

Ingredients:

1 small zucchini (4 ounces)
2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned into cup and leveled off)
1/4 cup sugar
21/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
1 small red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 12 cups of a muffin tin with paper liners.
Grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater. Transfer the zucchini to a fine-mesh sieve set over the sink and with your hands, squeeze the zucchini as dry as possible.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, egg, and buttermilk. Gently fold the flour mixture into the liquid. Fold in the Cheddar, zucchini, and bell pepper.
Divide the batter among the muffin cups (this is easily done using a 1/4-cup ice cream scoop). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out dry. Cool in the tin on a wire rack.
Tip: To reheat, simply pop the still frozen wrapped muffin  in a preheated 350°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes

Cheese Trays

Last month for my birthday , we dined at Davids KPT. We started the evening with hand cut truffle potato chips and the Cheese plate.The menu had a very simple description: CHEESE PLATE cheddar,goat,blue , grapes crostini. Lets just say they left off the best part, local honey and candied nuts. I have attempted to  reproduce the cheese tray at home and these candy nuts are a great match!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. assorted raw mixed nuts
• 2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
• 2 Tbs. canola oil
• 2 Tbs. firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, plus more, to taste
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• 2 fresh rosemary sprigs, plus 2 Tbs. rosemary leaves

• Directions:

  Preheat an oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
  
  In a large bowl, combine the nuts, butter, oil, brown sugar, cayenne and salt and toss to coat well. (If you prefer spicier nuts, add more cayenne, to taste.) Spread the nuts out on the prepared baking sheet and top with the thyme and rosemary sprigs. Transfer to the oven and toast the nuts, stirring occasionally, until they are slightly darker in color, 20 to 25 minutes. Discard the herb sprigs.
  
  Transfer the nuts to a bowl and toss with the rosemary leaves. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 6 to 8.

Slightly sweet and slightly spicy, these nuts are easy to prepare and make a satisfying snack when guests gather for dinner. You can toast the nuts up to 3 days in advance, but don’t toss with the rosemary leaves. Let cool, then place in an airtight container and store at room temperature. Just before serving, wrap the nuts in aluminum foil and warm in a 350°F oven. Toss with the rosemary leaves and serve.

Bad Santa

 

Took Fred to see "Santa" at the pet store.

Worst pet store Santa , ever!

Plow and Harvest

A couple of weeks ago we were invited to take the team to a 
Maine Farmers Growers Association , plow day.
It was a super cold, crazy windy day, but we went along any way, it was a good chance to exercise and socialize the team.
Although cold it turned out to be a nice plow day. 
The field was large and open and there was a nice turn out of teamsters.

The boys worked up a sweat , and got pampered with their cool down sheets.

While the boys plowed Fred and I walked the fields, we gathered up squash , left behind from the farmers harvest. There was loads of evidence of many happy critters (Deer I suspect).

I have been looking up ways to use my harvest.

Butternut Squash Soup with Brown Butter: In a Dutch oven, saute diced onion, celery and carrot with minced garlic. Add diced butternut squash, stock and chopped thyme and sage. Simmer until squash is tender. Puree soup until smooth and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with brown butter and garnish with fried sage leaves.
Think when I make this I might add some apple, have some left.

Hunting Squash

Roasted Acorn Squash with Chipotle: Cut acorn squash into 1-inch wedges; toss with olive oil, minced chipotles, a touch of maple syrup, salt and pepper. Place squash on nonstick baking sheet; roast at 400°F, turning squash wedges over once, until tender, 45 to 60 minutes. Toss with toasted pecans.

Transformation

The overhead door was installed today!

To our new equipment barn.

This transformed space will house the Draft horse equipment, plow, mower,

wagon and manure spreader.

 Big horses = big equipment !

Bob did the design and build, I could not picture it on paper

but I love the results!

From old dog kennel , row building.

Now to decorate and landscape!

Feeling Productive aka: My Day Off

I love to spend at least part of every day off in the farm house kitchen.

 One of my favorite things to do is meal prep for the work week.

I pre cut carrots and celery for our lunch boxes and save the scraps (peels and ends) for the stock pot.

Boil and peel a dozen eggs (the egg shells are eaten by the dogs, mixed in with their kibble)

Start with at Least One Chicken

I started my day off with two 6 pounds , these are lemon pepper.

 Season and roast with onions and potatoes.

Once roasted I serve a couple breast for dinner that night with the potatoes, 

then pick birds separating dark and light meat.

Place the chickens scraps (skin and bones), all your veggie cull from the day ( or week) , dill, garlic, and seasonings in a 16 to 20-quart stockpot. Add 7 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered, for 4 hours. Strain the entire contents of the pot through a colander and discard the solids. Chill the stock overnight. The next day, remove the surface fat. Use immediately or pack in containers and freeze for up to 3 months.

Buy Deli Containers with Matching Lids

I used to have storage anxiety. Every time I opened up my Tupperware cabinet, I knew I'd be faced with a baffling array of containers in all shapes and sizes, none of which would have a matching lid. But no more. These days, I order inexpensive packages of plastic deli-style containers in three different sizes (half pint, pint, and quart) to take care of 90 percent of my storage needs. It's easy to see what's inside them, they're flexible, which makes them great makeshift pourers and funnels, they stack super-efficiently, they're dishwasher safe and reusable, they have tight-fitting tops, and best of all, provided you stick with one brand, they all use the exact same lid.
I go with Reditainer Deli Food Containers with Lids, which cost under 50¢ apiece
The white meat not eaten at dinner becomes chicken salad and the rest is reserved for soup and chicken pot pie.

you can see here our veggies ready to snack a meat sauce for first work night of the week, and some for freezer , chicken stock to be used for soups and rice bases chicken salad left over roasted potatoes to be used as breakfast home fries.

Desserts chocolate pudding in mason jars, just take off the lid top with whipped cream and serve.

Fall Plow

The next generation of Teamsters 

Bob with team Mack and Mike (Mike this side)

I enjoy checking out the different plows.

Nice honest team.

hopping a little ride

Arrived back onthe farm safe and sound, a good day!

and Fred!